I have set up this site, primarily, to pen down my passing reflections, thoughts and important quotes from Habermas, in the hope to get some stimulating reactions.

Monday, January 07, 2008

national consciousness is a construct

. . . national consciousness is a thoroughly modern form of consciousness, though it assumes a pseudo-natural appearance. The idea of national history was an academic construct made possible by historians, folklorists, and literary critics. It was introduced into the educational process via the school and family, disseminated through mass communication, and anchored in the outlook of generations primed for war through the mobilization of conscripts.

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Consciousness of Filipinos as Construction and the Global reconstruction?

If Habermas view that national consciousness is just a construction and was introduced into the educational process via the school and family, disseminated through mass communication, and anchored in the outlook of generations primed for war through the conscript, therefore how about those culture or cultural minorities who do not have their written literature, history, folk tales etc be part of a consciousness?

Significantly, if the Filipino consciousness is just a convergence of pre, actual and post colonial interactions of people what therfore is our consciousness as well as the consciousness of each nation states that divide them and continously divide the world as well?

Is it important to reconstruct our own consciousness not only on the context of what is Filipino but also for what is humanitarian in universal or general form?

How about the so called divine consciousness? Is it real, imagined or also a product of construction, de-construction and re-construction as well.

I guess what is important is for humanity to find their commoness and construct a global consciousness that is more favorable to all culture if not encourage peaceful co-existence as it also promote growth in diversity without greater institutional coercion and with a wider space for tolerance, freedom and voices especially for the minority.

Habermas is a German philosopher -- "the leading systematic philosopher of our time," Richard Rorty of the University of Virginia calls him. But Habermas comes to this debate as much more than just a philosopher. "In terms of range and depth there is no one close to him," says Thomas McCarthy, a professor of humanities and philosophy at Northwestern University. "Habermas has been able to go into discussions in political theory, in sociology, in psychology, in legal theory -- in a dozen different disciplines -- and become one of the dominant voices in each one."

About Me

I am a philosopher by training. I wrote my PhD dissertation on Habermas and the possibility of transcendence from within. Beside Foucault and Habermas, I am interested in the work of Robert Brandom,John McDowell, and Charles Travis.